Ale Burset was born in Buenos Aires in 1970. He began his career
as a sports journalist and in 1995 he started working at
Caras and Noticias magazines. He
moved to Italy where he continued as a correspondant for both, and
whilst on an assignment was required to take pictures. Since then
his focus has switched to photography.

In 1999, Ale published his first book, 'Primer Ensayo' (First
Draft). Since collaborating with Para Ti magazine,
fashion has become his main passion. In Mexico, he worked in
advertising and fashion photography, and in 2003 his second book
'Claroscuro' (Lights and Shadows) was published.

In 2008 he began working in films as a director and is now
represented by Red Creek Productions in New York, London and
Argentina, and AProductions in Europe. His latest book, 'Walking in
the Shadows', was published in 2009. Ale is currently one of the
Gallery Stock artists and regularly contributes to
the prestigious AtEdge magazine.

In this Spotlight he presents a selection of
major work as a portrait photographer. Visit his website for more
images and further information.

Alun Callender photographs people on location and in their own
spaces to reflect their character and lifestyle.

He enjoys telling stories either within one picture or a
sequence of pictures, bringing together portraiture, interiors and
still life. Through his images, Alun encapsulates how a person
lives, their values and their influences to deepen the viewer's
understanding of the subject.

Alun's pictures are regularly seen in the UK's leading fashion
and lifestyle magazines including Red,
Marie Claire and House &
Garden.

Recent months have seen David Ellis shooting high profile
celebrities such as Daniel Craig, Katie Price and David
Attenborough for a variety of editorial clients.

On the music front he has worked with The
Prodigy, Adele and Simple
Minds. On the advertising side, he has photographed Mel
Smith for Animal Planet and Gary Lineker for
Walkers Crisps. One of his recent reportage
projects was to shoot Razorlight in rehearsal at
their warehouse in north London.

Jens Umbach was born near Kassel in Germany. He received a BA in
photography at the University of Darmstadt (Germany) in 1999.
During this time, before coming to New York, he was a partner at a
studio collective (studio vier) for photography and graphic design
in Darmstadt.

In 1997, he moved to New York and began working for various
photographers while continuing his studies in Germany. In 1999,
Jens started working freelance and dedicated more time to his own
work. Since then, his portraits have been published in
British Vogue, The New Yorker,
Esquire, Galore, brand
eins, InStyle, Forbes,
and Observer Magazine, as well as the
London Telegraph Magazine and London
Times.

His advertising clients include Mercedes-Benz,
British Airways, IBM,
General Electric, Procter &
Gamble, American Express and
Comcast, among others.

Jens recently photographed Marc Ecko for
Galore, James Frey for the London
Telegraph, Prince Albert of Monaco for
plant-for-the-planet, and Morgan Spurlock for
vive magazine.

The opening of a satellite office in Hamburg, Germany, is in the
works for 2009.

Nick Dolding has spent over 20 years working for top agencies in
London and Europe. His knowledge of different disciplines of
photography enables him to combine the best aspects of both studio
and location photography.

Coming from a traditional film and print background, Nick has
been shooting hi-end digital for more than five years and has more
than 12 years of managing digital workflow and post production. His
talent and dedicated passion have produced a swath of new images,
both commissioned and personal.

His latest commissions follow on from a new series of personal
work about unusual professions. Recent clients include
HSBC, Hewlet-Packard,
Virgin, Sony, O2
and BAA, to name but a few.

Paul Campbell considers a helicopter the equivalent of a very
high tripod, an invaluable tool for the landscape photographer -
albeit an extremely expensive one! For the past 15 years, he has
been using it for a wide range of clients including P&O
Cruises, supermarkets, banks, and all manner of tourist
boards. He also has a strong background shooting cars on
location.

Paul shoots using gyro stabiliser mounts which minimise movement
and deliver a high quality file at the end of the job. The
helicopter opens his eyes to the one dimensional world below,
revealing landscapes that often look as if they have been art
directed specifically for his photography.

Using the aerial method means the time of day and weather
conditions are even more critical than when shooting conventional
landscapes. A good understanding of weather forecasting is
essential, as is the patience to watch and wait before shooting -
not always an affordable luxury in the commercial world
of copy dates. A strong stomach to combat airsickness is
essential too, especially when flying in a tight circles.

Rüdiger Nehmzow is based in Dusseldorf. After studying
communication design with photography at the university of Essen
and completing a successful apprenticeship as a photographer, he
now works internationally for magazines, advertising agencies and
companies specialising in portrait and corporate photography.

"Portrait photography is a wonderful opportunity to come into
contact with unique, interesting people - famous or not. For me, to
get portraits with an authentic feel within what is normally a very
limited shooting time is not an issue - it becomes a
challenge!"

Simon Murphy is fast becoming one of the UK's premier portrait
photographers. Specialising in celebrity portraiture, music,
fashion and travel, his work regularly sends him around the globe
to produce compelling images.

His most recent project was for the BURJ Dubai
Opus, a luxury book published by Kraken
for which he photographed workers and executives alike for what
will be the world's largest book.

Simon is in the process of looking for UK and international representation. Visit his website for more information.